[Linux] The default "Desktop" folder disappears

Last Updated on 2021-08-01 by Clay

Today, A strange problem occurred on my computer: After we use the graphical interface for the first time, Ubuntu will automatically create a folder named Desktop as our desktop, so the desktop of the Ubuntu graphical interface will display all the files in this folder.

But today when I logged in my account, my Desktop folder is disappeared. I rebooted and prayed for it to return to normal (it often succeeds). However, the files under the Home folder are displayed of the graphical interface.

I searched a few keywords on the Internet, finally I found a solution: Why is my desktop the same as home folder?

It seems that this stranger has the same troubles as me. Fortunately, after I followed the steps below, my computer finally returned to normal.

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Solution

First of all, we can confirm that the Desktop folder is still existed. If it has disappeared, then we need to create a new folder with the same name.

mkdir ~/Desktop

Then, we started to modify the configuration file:

sudo vim ~/.config/user-dirs.dir

We should see a row of XDF_xxxxxxxx settings. At present we only need to pay attention to the line XDG_DESKTOP_DIR, if this line does not exist, then add it yourself.

Modify it to:

XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"

Set the directory to the Desktop folder we just created. Then restart the computer, and you should see that the desktop is normal.